Family provides help to former heroin addicts

Family provides help to former heroin addicts

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Family provides help to former heroin adicts

Steven Schminke of Egg Harbor Twp. had a loving family and two beautiful little girls with his girlfriend Elizabeth. His parents Tammy and Bill Schminke watched him struggle with addiction to heroin for years until their worst fears came true.

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Steven Schminke of Egg Harbor Twp. had a loving family and two beautiful little girls with his girlfriend Elizabeth. His parents Tammy and Bill Schminke watched him struggle with addiction to heroin for years until their worst fears came true.

The day before Easter, Tammy walked into her 26-year-old son's room to find him lifeless. He had overdosed and died from heroin.

The family said: "This was the worst day of our lives, and the last day of his! No, there would be no Easter egg hunt with the girls, not that day, not ever again with their father."

His girlfriend was 3 months pregnant with a third child at the time of his death. She named the baby Steven Jr. in memory of his father.

The family has also started an organization called Stop the Heroin which helps provide money for recent rehab graduates who would otherwise have nowhere else to go to continue their sober living.

They said: "Our family is still a wreck, but we decided to do something more than just 'get over it'. What keeps us going from day to day, is the need to create a good life for our grandchildren, to not let Steven’s tragic death be in vain. We have a new found purpose, the challenge of helping others struggling with addiction. We pray that in our own small way, we can harness the events of our own tragedy to help prevent others from entering the living hell that has been thrust upon our family."